Neither the existence of a global tendency toward the centralization of capital as theorized by Marx nor the possible links between economic crisis and capital centralization have been verified by empirical studies. Using techniques of complex network analysis applied to the Thomson Reuters Eikon database we introduce a definition of centralization as network control and present a first study of its global evolution from 2001 to 2016. We find that the global network control is highly centralized: the fraction of the top holders cumulatively holding the 80% of the global economic value of the companies examined does never exceed 2%. Furthermore, by inspecting the temporal dynamics of the phenomenon we observe a relevant increase in the centralization of capital: this trend assumes a more regular and general character since the financial crisis started in 2007, with a growth of more than 20%.

The renowned economist reflects on the rise of neoclassical economics, the post-2008 surge of interest in non-mainstream, heterodox thought, and how young economists can remain independent in the face of biased evaluation systems

Interview by Emiliano Brancaccio and Nadia Garbellini

Economics is one of the fields where the contradictions and limitations of the academic research evaluation system in Italy is most clearly felt. This still fragile science—which in order to evolve requires openness, pluralism and appraisals of different approaches—is today conditioned in its development by academic evaluation and selection criteria, which are largely arbitrary and modelled on a single paradigm subject to increasing epistemological, theoretical, and empirical objections. Luigi Pasinetti, one of the world’s leading exponents of critical economic thought, expresses his views on the subject in the following interview by Emiliano Brancaccio and Nadia Garbellini.